Terrabon Files Chapter 7 Bankruptcy

Terrabon, a Houston-based bioenergy company, has filed for bankruptcy protection under Chapter 7 of the Federal bankruptcy laws. Under Chapter 7, a company’s operations cease and a trustee is tasked with liquidating the company’s assets for the benefit of creditors.

In a statement, Gary Luce, Terrabon’s CEO said, "It is with great disappointment we announce Terrabon has been unable to obtain additional financing and must suspend operations. This is a sad day for Terrabon’s employees, partners, suppliers and vendors who never wavered from their robust support of our company and the technology we deeply believe in. We want to thank them and convey how deeply we appreciate their steadfast loyalty during our journey to become an additional source of alternative energy for the United States."

Terrabon’s MixAlco technology was designed to convert non-food, non-sterile biomass into renewable drop-in transportation fuels such as gasoline and jet fuel. The company had been in operations since 1995. The company, which had been gradually developing its product, failed to secure a second line of funding that would have allowed the company to scale up its operations.

While the company had success with pilot projects with a number of consumers, the inability to land funding in a recent round of financing to finish developing and engineering its first commercial-scale plant forced the company to liquidate.